Child Care Information
As a parenting student, finding child care can be a frequently faced barrier. However, Austin Peay, the community, and the state of Tennessee have resources available to assist you! Below we have information to help ease this burden. If you have any questions or need help finding resources, please reach out to the ANTS Center.
The Tennessee Department of Human Services provides child care payment assistance
through the Smart Steps Program.
Eligibility requirements are:
- Parents applying for the Smart Steps program whose income is below the 85th percentile of State Median Income who have children six (6) weeks to five (5) years old and who work or go to school, or both, for 30 hours or more a week.
- High school or middle school mothers who stay in school who participate in the Teen Parent program.
- Parents in the Families First program who need child care to complete the work activities in their personal responsibility plan.
- Parents whose Families First case has closed can receive transitional child care assistance for 18 months after their Families First case closes IF each parent works 30 hours or more a week.
- Non-parental guardians in the Families First program who need child care for a related child IF the guardian does 30 or more hours of work, training, or education a week.
For more information and to apple, visit this link.
In addition to on-campus child care, there are numerous center's throughout the city and county. We encourage all individuals utilizing child care centers to do research on the center's quality. The Tennessee Department of Human Services has created a search engine for child care that includes evaluations and assessment of each center.
Visit this page to search for child care.